Apple’s "Spring Forward" Event and What It Means for Local

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Apple’s “Spring Forward” event yesterday covered some critical and innovative product updates that we anticipate consumers will adopt within the coming months. In fact, the presentation highlighted that within the industry iPhone penetration is already growing at twice the rate of the rest of the smartphone market. Because of this pace, we advise that marketers keep in mind wearable technologies to create the engaging mobile-friendly strategies. We’re expect consumers to adopt Apple Pay and the newest addition to the family of user-friendly gadgets: Apple Watch.

Image via Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook says that these technologies will serve as a “ New standard for wearable and payment performance”. What especially grabbed our attention was the overlap between Apple Watch and Apple Pay, and how that all plays into Local marketing.

We know that mobile payments are not a new technology for brands or consumers. With the adoption rate growing at such a rapid pace, Apple Pay is now accepted at 700,000 locations. Throughout today’s event, several brands and apps were placed in the limelight. From American Airlines and Fig & Olive, to Instagram, Shazam and Uber, all of these customer-oriented brands are working with Apple to create the most seamless online to offline customer experience. With this Local, service-oriented mindset, your brand could benefit too.

We have two predictions coming out the Apple Event:

1. Voice search is the next movement of Mobile

Mobile is the present, and soon it will be the default for both consumers and brands. Search Engine Land and Greg Sterling broke down the methods of voice search between Android and Microsoft, reasons for the adoption of voice search, and what this means for brands. With the Apple Watch, we’re seeing this technology taking leaps forward. And since customers will depend on their watch to give them exactly what they’re searching for through speech, local brands must make sure their data as rich, consistent and informative is possible. As Cook mentioned, “Apple Watch isn’t just with you, it’s on you,” and when a customer has its digital technology working to assist them in the brick and mortar space, this as an area of opportunity for brands to service users like never before.

2. Apple Watch will create an even stronger need for local brand presence

Apple Watch is being described as “the most personal Apple device ever”. And when customers begin to take this preferential technology on, brands will be exposed to more diverse, detailed and informative Big Data. Regardless of the industry your brand markets itself to, having this information at your brand’s disposal can give your brand the chance to provide personalized social, mobile and local interactions with hyperlocal users.

It seems like after every Apple event, we are more and more curious to see how users adopt Internet of Things technologies. We’re excited to see how this all plays into how customers choose to interact with local brands for the remainder of 2015 and beyond.